GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

What started the war?

POSTED BY: AG05
UPDATED: Sunday, May 3, 2009 11:06
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Monday, April 27, 2009 6:32 PM

AG05


Is there any canon material out there that details the causes of the Unification War? What was the motivation (real and "official") of the Alliance? What events lead up to the start of the war? Who fired first, and what was the proximate cause of the violence?

I'm curious because I've been reading about the Boer War recently, and there seem to be far more parallels between the Boer War/Unification War than the US Civil War/Unification War. The Boer War was a much more imperialist war than the Civil War, and there were lots of hidden (or at least, unspoken) motives for the British to go to War in south Africa. So I'm wondered what reasons the Alliance (or the Independents) gave for going to war.

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Monday, April 27, 2009 8:20 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


More and more worlds were becoming terraformed, the rim worlds wanted freedom and accountability. Alliance wanted to rape the natural resources of the outer worlds, while ignoring any needs of the people there, avoiding accountability - like taxation without representation. Alliance did not want to lose their hold on the theft of resources, and were willing to kill to keep it.
The genocide and coverup of Miranda was the catalyst for Alliance to hurry to war to keep the knowing from spreading the word, keep the sheeple distracted. Miranda broadcast was about Feb 2506, War for Alliance Domination started about June-August 2506.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:20 AM

AG05


So the Out Ring planets were under nominal Alliance control to begin with? Ok, I can kinda see that.

The expliotation of natural resources makes perfect sense, but it was never stated explicitly in either the show or the film, so I wasn't sure. Major parallel with the Boer War there.

I was unaware that the Miranda genocide took place prior to the War. I had always assumed that it had taken place just AFTER the start of the war, in an effort by the Alliance to keep this sort of trouble from happening elsewhere.

I'm assuming the public excuse for the war was something along the lines of "Civilize 'em with a Krag*" or some other savage-taming bullshit.

* Line from a popular song during the Philippine Insurrection at the turn of the last century. The war was one of US troops putting down a rebellion of "savage" Filipinos in America's newest colonies.

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:03 AM

BYTEMITE


In Serenity, when they're discussing where they've heard of Miranda, Mal or Zoe comments that they recall news of Miranda's terraforming failure being about ten years ago, "just before the start of the war."

Gold mine of cover-up suggesting meaning in that one little line. :)

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:12 AM

CHRISISALL


"...the government has never officially confirmed the existence of Reavers..."


The laughing Chrisisall

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 8:02 AM

AG05


I wasn't paying attention to my timeline then. I'd just watched "Safe", when Simon and River were talking about Independents using dinosaurs "11 years ago," so I assumed the War was already on.

Either way, I'm assuming there are no known "facts" about who fired first and things like that?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 8:37 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Is there any canon material out there that details the causes of the Unification War?

Awsome thread for what I'm working on currently.

In the film I'm directing this summer we needed to come up with some imagery that conveys a rising tension and cause for war. There are several historical events that can serve as a model.

My personal interpration of the Unification War has been that it is a conflict combining elements of the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War. By this I mean that the motivations for war are based on principals of Liberty ( Revolutionary War) while at the same time there are strong cultural identities of rim worlds similar to feelings of southern states in the 1860's. To this end we have proposed a couple ideas.

Idea 1 involves an event based on the Boston Tea Party. In the 1770's the parliment of Britan was involved with croneyism with the East India Company. EIC got the exclusive right to monoplize tea in the americas in 1773 and in return England got to tax it. The result was a riot we know of today as the Boston Tea Party. In Firefly the Blue Sun Corporation plays the role of EIC. (Refer to a Blog post I created a year ago called "what is the blue sun corporation?" for detailed analysis of this). We came up with an idea that in the 'verse, the parliment on Londinium passed a resolution that Blue Sun would have the right to monopolize certain aspects of trade on the rim worlds. Since Persephone is a border/core world and a nexus for trade, it became a hub of anger over these new restrictions. One evening a group of radicals calling themselves "Browncoats" instigated a riot in the Evestown docks and burned several Blue Sun Ships. In our fan film we are creating a news piece relating these events. Note that after the war Blue Sun maintains a stranglehold on trade at the docks per the many banners present in the pilot episode.

Idea 2: That the call for independence occurs on Shadow (the beating heart of the rebellion, serving the function of South Carolina in the civil war) and that they pass a resolution much like the 2nd contenental Congress did that reads something like this:

RESOLVED
That these confederated worlds are, and of a right ought to be
FREE AND SOVERGN SPHERES
That they are absolved of all alligence to the Anglo-Sino Alliance
And that any political connection between them and the Alliance is, and of a right ought to be
TOTALLY DISSOLVED

These are a couple things we are working on. None of this is canon, but depending on how well the film goes, mayhap.


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 1:22 PM

AG05


Quote:

Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
[Idea 1 involves an event based on the Boston Tea Party. In the 1770's the parliment of Britan was involved with croneyism with the East India Company. EIC got the exclusive right to monoplize tea in the americas in 1773 and in return England got to tax it. The result was a riot we know of today as the Boston Tea Party. In Firefly the Blue Sun Corporation plays the role of EIC. (Refer to a Blog post I created a year ago called "what is the blue sun corporation?" for detailed analysis of this). We came up with an idea that in the 'verse, the parliment on Londinium passed a resolution that Blue Sun would have the right to monopolize certain aspects of trade on the rim worlds. Since Persephonie is a border/core world and a nexus for trade, it became a hub of anger over these new restrictions. One evening a group of radicals calling themselves "Browncoats" instigated a riot in the Evestown docks and burned several Blue Sun Ships. In our fan film we are creating a news piece relating these events. Note that after the war Blue Sun maintains a stranglehold on trade at the docks per the many banners present in the pilot episode.

Idea 2: That the call for independence occurs on Shadow (the beating heart of the rebellion, serving the function of South Carolina in the civil war) and that they pass a resolution much like the 2nd contenental Congress did that reads something like this:

RESOLVED
That these confederated worlds are, and of a right ought to be
FREE AND SOVERGN SPHERES
That they are absolved of all alligence to the Anglo-Sino Alliance
And that any political connection between them and the Alliance is, and of a right ought to be
TOTALLY DISSOLVED

These are a couple things we are working on. None of this is canon, but depending on how well the film goes, mayhap.




Interesting ideas, especially #2. I've always thought that the Unification War had more in common with the US revolution than it did with the Civil War. I strongly suggest you look into the various causes of the Boer War, specifically regarding access to/monopolization of the natural resources of the Orage Free State and the Transvaal Republic. Google Cecil Rhodes for more ideas. I very much like the idea of a minor resistance to Alliance interference (maybe not taxation exactly, but perhaps resistance to newer, more "civilized" settlers moving to the outer Rim adn trying to run things) used as an excuse by the Alliance go to War.

I while I'm kinda iffy about using Shadow as the beating heart of the Rebellion, It would certainly explain it destruction during the War.


Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 1:57 PM

BYTEMITE


Good insights on the Revolutionary War bit! Whedon may have used post-Civil War themes and for inspiration for Mal and Zoe, but the capital (or maybe co-capital, with Sihnon? not too clear on that point) of the Alliance is Londinium.

Bit more like kind old King George III in that context. :)

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:25 PM

NCBROWNCOAT


The Revolutionary War seems to fit better, but add a dash of the Civil War.

Combine a Blue Sun monopoly on the basics of life such as food, electronics etc. with a tax on exports from the Rim to the Border and Core planets and this leading to a blockade by Alliance space ships so that trade comes to an absolute halt.

The Rim planets would suffer horribly, except for the ultra high priced goods a blockade runner could get through. And that would mainly be the materials of war, guns, ammunition etc.sprinkled with enough "luxury" goods to make a nice profit.

In my defense of this scenario I have to disclose that I grew up in Wilmington, NC, which was a major port for blockade runners during the Civil War and the last one to be closed by the Union victory in the battle of Ft. Fisher (the largest waterborn assault until D-Day in WWII).








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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 9:49 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


I agree it is more fitting of the American Revolutionary War circa late 18th century, except the wrong side won in the new verse.

The White Paper for The Map of the Verse proclaims the War years as the astrological time when Protostar Murphy was closest to Protostar Lux, thus making Persephone the major Core side port and Shadow, Hera, Aphrodite the major Rim side ports, and thus of strategic importance for the Alliance to make pre-emptive strikes upon.

You may wish to peruse the timeline threads in Episode forum.
The Train Job was the 6th anniversary of Unification Day, celebrating the end of the War for Alliance Domination. This is 2517, so end of war was 2511, summertime. The war lasted 5 years, so start was in 2506.
Safe was in Fall 2517, 11 years earlier was fall 2506, after the start of the war - River was paying attention to the news of the day.
BDM was in 2518, varying dates according to preferred timeline, and Mal says the Miranda broadcast was from about 12 years ago - the broadcast from the research and rescue ship, after the planet population had already been killed by the Alliance. This makes it 2506. If Mal's "8 months aboard" for Simon and River in BDM is to be believed, then this is spring of 2518, and the broadcast predates the onset of war. As shown by Slick Willie in the 1990's, those in power mustn't allow the sheeple time to gather info, must create diversions to cover up indiscretions.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:08 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
So the Out Ring planets were under nominal Alliance control to begin with? Ok, I can kinda see that.

The expliotation of natural resources makes perfect sense, but it was never stated explicitly in either the show or the film, so I wasn't sure. Major parallel with the Boer War there.

I was unaware that the Miranda genocide took place prior to the War. I had always assumed that it had taken place just AFTER the start of the war, in an effort by the Alliance to keep this sort of trouble from happening elsewhere.

I'm assuming the public excuse for the war was something along the lines of "Civilize 'em with a Krag*" or some other savage-taming bullshit.





The Office for Colonization was located on Bernadette, the planet closest to White Sun. The core palnets were terraformed first, more and more were terraformed outward, until the rim worlds eventually outnumbered the core worlds. Guess where all the foundations of the Verse were, the "civilizations", and where would the "frontier" Rim Worlds turn to for sustenance and "bootstrapping" until they became self-viable?

The Core worlds consisted of the 39 Terraformed/inhabitable worlds around the White Sun. These were the first to be terraformed and settled.
Outer worlds still continue to be terraformed during the span of our voyuerism.
Inhabitable Outer worlds include 41 in Georgia System including Shadow, and 38 in Red Sun.
Inhabitable Rim worlds include 39 in Kalidasa System and 20 in Blue Sun including Miranda.

The Core worlds would be the launching pad for the societal infrastructure of the Verse, but the population and Power would shift outward, eroding the tight fist of the Alliance in the Core.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:15 AM

AG05


Thanks for the timeline info! Interplanetary history has never been my strong suit. I blame Public Education

Quote:

The Core worlds would be the launching pad for the societal infrastructure of the Verse, but the population and Power would shift outward, eroding the tight fist of the Alliance in the Core.

Which the Alliance could not stand for. Makes sense. It may also be the case that the Alliance never WANTED the Outer Planets to be completely self-viable. Neo-Mercantilism if you will. The Outer Planets provide the wealth of new natural resources, but ship those resources to the Core for processing into finished goods The Core worlds then sell the finished product back to the Rim, with a nice markup along to way. Just a thought. Genocide, coverups, rebellions, and 17th century Imperial economics. What a fun 'Verse!


On another question:
Was there any one incident that took place that the Alliance used as a public excuse to go to war? I understand the need to keep the Miranda snafu quiet, but even Core Planet sheeple need to be told some BS story about the savage Rim world before they'll support a shooting war. Any ideas what that story was?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 6:40 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
I'm kinda iffy about using Shadow as the beating heart of the Rebellion, It would certainly explain it destruction during the War.

It worked quite well in my mind. Again, I'm approaching this project with a belief that the Unification War (called by rim worlders as The War of Alliance Aggresion) shares duel traits of the fight for liberty in the 1770's and the struggle for sovergnity of the 1860's.

I first had the idea of Shadow being the nexus of rebellion when I sat and thought about what "Burn the Land and Boil the Sea" actually meant. It was clear to me that the lyrics of the opening song were written from Mal's point of view. Therefore the land and sea should refer to his homeland, which we know is Shadow. Canon relates that Shadow is now uninhabitible due to orbital bombardments toward the war's end. Why is this? I propose that the Alliance felt they needed to humiliate and degrade the Independents with actions similar to Sherman's March to the Sea. Sherman spent 2 months in late 1864 marching unopposed across Georgia looting & destroying everything in his path. What is often forgotten is that after he reached the sea, he turned north and continued the rampage to Columbia South Carolina. Everyone knew that SC was the spirital heart of the rebels. What the Union soldiers did to Columbia was horrible. Copied from Wikipedia:

Sherman captured the state capital of Columbia, South Carolina, on February 17, 1865. Fires began that night and by next morning, most of the central city was destroyed. The burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming the fires were accidental and most southern historians agreeing that it was a deliberate act of vengeance intended to humiliate the South.

To me, Shadow fits the role of South Carolina to the hilt. The Alliance would have turned it's war engine upon the Murphy protostar sub-system and salted the earth of Shadow to demoralize the Independents and show for-good-and-all that rim-worlder sedition leads to complete destruction. Certainly the Alliance can ill afford to travel the rim annihilating the very worlds that funnel so much wealth to the core (think of the near slave-labor provided by Mudders in Jaynestown or the suffering miners in The Train Job), but for this one key planet they knew an example had to be made lest talk of rebellion begin anew.

We are creating various different pieces to be presented in our fan film. Some examples are:
A news article relating how several Blue Sun Ships were burned on Persephone circa 2503-2505. (We'd love to make it look like the news laminate Badger holds up to Mal, but we don't have the CGI ability for it.)

The resolution for sovergnity passed in a congress of rim worlds that took place on Shadow in late 2505.

A written statement by Col. Obrin of Shadow that he will raise a Brigade of 10,000 men to Fight Alliance Aggression. In it he names his Brigade the 57th Overlanders.

A copy of the 76th's recuitment piece as given on their website, transcribed onto parchment, and nailed to a tree.

Our idea of a 57th Overlanders recuitment poster that Mal might have seen before joining up.

We are also trying to determine how many canon battles have been fought. So far we have 4:
Serenity Valley (pilot ep)
Battle of Du-Khang (The Message)
Battle of Sturgis (Graphic Novel Those Left Behind)
New Kasmir Winter Campaign (Zoe mentions it in War Stories during the "grenades in apples" story)

We also have other ideas but those are the ones I like the most so far. Would love other ideas too. I've posed several questions in my Fan Film thread in the section Firefly: Immediate Assistance. Most Q's have yet to be answered and we're going to make some assumptions but if anyone can help us I'd really appreciate it! The last line of the credits will contain a special thanks to certain helpful login names on fff.net.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 8:26 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


I don't know why so few fans are in this thread.

Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Thanks for the timeline info! Interplanetary history has never been my strong suit. I blame Public Education

Quote:

The Core worlds would be the launching pad for the societal infrastructure of the Verse, but the population and Power would shift outward, eroding the tight fist of the Alliance in the Core.

Which the Alliance could not stand for. Makes sense. It may also be the case that the Alliance never WANTED the Outer Planets to be completely self-viable.


I do not doubt that the original planners of the verse - likely scientist types, with government and business providing financing and willpower - intended for the verse to be equal, balanced, representative for all, etc. But, as history proves time and again, the best laid plans of mice and men....are derailed by the devolvement of mankind's best interests into man's worst sins of greed, presented by the power hungry Alliance Parliament. Some men had utopian plans and dreams, other men saw opportunity to take advantage of their fellow man.
Quote:


Neo-Mercantilism if you will. The Outer Planets provide the wealth of new natural resources, but ship those resources to the Core for processing into finished goods The Core worlds then sell the finished product back to the Rim, with a nice markup along to way. Just a thought. Genocide, coverups, rebellions, and 17th century Imperial economics. What a fun 'Verse!


On another question:
Was there any one incident that took place that the Alliance used as a public excuse to go to war? I understand the need to keep the Miranda snafu quiet, but even Core Planet sheeple need to be told some BS story about the savage Rim world before they'll support a shooting war. Any ideas what that story was?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.


No incident would be needed, just a story. The sheeple will believe anything the "news" media tell them, and/or the government tells them.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 9:59 PM

CELLARDOOR


Well... I'm lurking in this thread mostly, soaking in the brilliance of far more experienced residents of the 'verse than me. :) Please carry on though! I'm learning so much (even if some of it is theoretical!)

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Thursday, April 30, 2009 1:51 AM

NCBROWNCOAT


Lurking a bit now too. I do say that some "incident" is needed for the Alliance to use as a pretext for war. There was Lexington and Concord, the firing on Ft. Sumpter etc.

It could be a "manufactured" incident like the USS Maine exploding in the Havana harbor. That incident was exploited by Hearst in order to boost circulation of his newspapers. In fact, the Spanish-American War was referred to as "Mr. Hearst's little war."

Ironically historians now think it was an internal coal explosion and not a bomb that destroyed the Maine.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/








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Thursday, April 30, 2009 2:06 AM

AG05


Quote:

Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Lurking a bit now too. I do say that some "incident" is needed for the Alliance to use as a pretext for war. There was Lexington and Concord, the firing on Ft. Sumpter etc.

It could be a "manufactured" incident like the USS Maine exploding in the Havana harbor. That incident was exploited by Hearst in order to boost circulation of his newspapers. In fact, the Spanish-American War was referred to as "Mr. Hearst's little war."

Ironically historians now think it was an internal coal explosion and not a bomb that destroyed the Maine.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/










Dammit, you beat me to the USS Maine thing! Bluesuncompanyman's thought about burning ships in port got me thinking about that. But you're right, I think an actual incident is needed. Grieving mothers and all that. Add that certain Alliance spin, and presto! War.

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Thursday, April 30, 2009 2:31 AM

RALLEM


I always thought the war was based on the Alliance terra-forming the planets and moons into habitable earth like worlds and then to offset the costs placed settlers on them with the bare minimum to survive so the new inhabitants could utilize the resources of that world to make the alliance wealthier. From the Settler’s perspective I can see how they were placed on the planet with little or nothing to work with and probably had no real representation with the Alliance, so they saw no need to pay the heavy taxes and be burdened of laws which probably made no sense to them, and held a little revolt. I can see where both sides were right and wrong with the Unitarian war if this was how things fell through.



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Friday, May 1, 2009 5:48 AM

AG05


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

No incident would be needed, just a story. The sheeple will believe anything the "news" media tell them, and/or the government tells them.



I dunno. We in the 21st century are media savvy enough to call bullshit when we smell it. I can't imagine it'd be any different 500 years in the future.

Think about it this way: Inara beleived the Alliance version of whatever happened to start the war. Do you think she's be suckered in by some completely fictitious story? Or would she require at least SOME evidence to buy it?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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Friday, May 1, 2009 6:38 AM

ELVISCHRIST


The Alliance claimed that Shadow had WMD!

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Friday, May 1, 2009 10:49 AM

BYTEMITE


I figure that the Alliance showed the Core examples of local power abuse out on the Rim and convinced everyone that Unification was for the Rim's own good.

Plenty of people seemed to think putting American Native on reservations at gun point and giving each tribe member their own homestead was for their own good, too.

If you already think of your enemy as less than human or savage, there's two ways your government can go: they can convince you your enemy is pure evil and a threat, or they can feed you a sob story.

And then encourage you to feel indignant when the savages don't want your help. Why are they being so stubborn? If they'd just accept it, we wouldn't have to force them! Etc.

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Friday, May 1, 2009 10:49 AM

BYTEMITE


EDIT: Double post, weird.

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Friday, May 1, 2009 1:14 PM

NCBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Quote:

Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Lurking a bit now too. I do say that some "incident" is needed for the Alliance to use as a pretext for war. There was Lexington and Concord, the firing on Ft. Sumpter etc.

It could be a "manufactured" incident like the USS Maine exploding in the Havana harbor. That incident was exploited by Hearst in order to boost circulation of his newspapers. In fact, the Spanish-American War was referred to as "Mr. Hearst's little war."

Ironically historians now think it was an internal coal explosion and not a bomb that destroyed the Maine.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/










Dammit, you beat me to the USS Maine thing! Bluesuncompanyman's thought about burning ships in port got me thinking about that. But you're right, I think an actual incident is needed. Grieving mothers and all that. Add that certain Alliance spin, and presto! War.

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.



I could go on and on with things that were used to justify or at least work up a population so that war was "justifiable".

I do think that the sentiment did originate on the Border planets first. I think they would feel like a lot like the Americans of the Revolutionary War. Taxed with out their consent, little or no protection by the established government, little or no representation in the established government etc.etc.

I did have the Shadow Assembly declare independence in a very early Young Mal fic but I forgot to include any touchstone event that sparked hostilities.

And as there is no canon on the subject we can let our imagination run riot in fics.






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Friday, May 1, 2009 5:43 PM

TRAVELER


This makes sense. Free trade being abolished by giving Blue Sun an open contract to abuse the rim worlds. Oh and lets not forget the tax. Gotta tax this stuff.

If you lost the war to regain your trade rights, the next best thing is to become a smuggler. So this is Mal's justification for his work. His own way to stick it to the man.

So you have two types of worlds on the rim. Planets like Shadow that has an honest and just local government that is bitter about unjust laws and then there are planets like the ones Jaynestown and Heart of Gold are located on, where the people are surfs. So rebellion only requires some voices to speak out and some action like a tea party.


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Traveler

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Saturday, May 2, 2009 11:48 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

No incident would be needed, just a story. The sheeple will believe anything the "news" media tell them, and/or the government tells them.



I dunno. We in the 21st century are media savvy enough to call bullshit when we smell it. I can't imagine it'd be any different 500 years in the future.



I am unable to determine if you are being sarcastic or if you're just delusional.

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Sunday, May 3, 2009 2:52 AM

RALLEM


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

No incident would be needed, just a story. The sheeple will believe anything the "news" media tell them, and/or the government tells them.



I dunno. We in the 21st century are media savvy enough to call bullshit when we smell it. I can't imagine it'd be any different 500 years in the future.



I am unable to determine if you are being sarcastic or if you're just delusional.



I was wondering that too.



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Sunday, May 3, 2009 5:00 AM

NCBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by traveler:
This makes sense. Free trade being abolished by giving Blue Sun an open contract to abuse the rim worlds. Oh and lets not forget the tax. Gotta tax this stuff.

If you lost the war to regain your trade rights, the next best thing is to become a smuggler. So this is Mal's justification for his work. His own way to stick it to the man.

So you have two types of worlds on the rim. Planets like Shadow that has an honest and just local government that is bitter about unjust laws and then there are planets like the ones Jaynestown and Heart of Gold are located on, where the people are surfs. So rebellion only requires some voices to speak out and some action like a tea party.


http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler



Good reasoning.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/








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Sunday, May 3, 2009 5:05 AM

NCBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by AG05:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:

No incident would be needed, just a story. The sheeple will believe anything the "news" media tell them, and/or the government tells them.



I dunno. We in the 21st century are media savvy enough to call bullshit when we smell it. I can't imagine it'd be any different 500 years in the future.

Think about it this way: Inara beleived the Alliance version of whatever happened to start the war. Do you think she's be suckered in by some completely fictitious story? Or would she require at least SOME evidence to buy it?

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.



Mostly likely the media in the Core planets is controlled. Remember that the broadcast about Lilac heard in the background of the bar in the Miranda scene (right before the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial) was about the Reaver attack and it never mentioned Reavers or that the money was stolen from the vault.

Inara would associate with the upper classes that included the wealthy, the members of Parliament, the military, all with a vested interest in controlling the media.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/








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Sunday, May 3, 2009 11:06 AM

AG05


Quote:

I am unable to determine if you are being sarcastic or if you're just delusional.


You got me there. Delusional. But it was a temporary thing.

The point I was trying to make was that most reasonably intelligent regimes would go throught the trouble of creating an ACTUAL incident, rather than just concocting a story. Hell, even the Soviets put forth the effort to shell one of their own towns before they blamed it on the Finns in 1939. And if anybody had a death grips on their media, it was Stalin in 1939. Having an actual body count helps.

Sorry about the whole "faith in human reason" thing. It won't happen again.

Mercy is the mark of a great man.
Guess I'm just a good man.
Well, I'm alright.

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